victor

True, I'm Lina's bro. I paved the way for her 3 years before, and Bernstein happened 20 years after that. Got the ball rolling with her in 1977 when I traded my bass rig for her Nikkormat (how'd THAT happen?)-those of you who know can see where that led to. (Check out the ever-changing pix and leave a comment, if you like.) Made my way to Pedro from Wilmas via the Fairfax district. Walking distance to Canter's, as opposed to walking distance to Red and Blackie's (ask Joe Baiza about that one). No tortillas for miles, but plenty of kreplach. Saw Melrose rise and fall when Rene's Records closed and Aron's moved to Highland. Still remember the old Vinyl Fetish, the Ho Sai Gai and the Gordon on La Brea, the Mayfair Market on Fountain where we used to see Mr. & Mrs. Top Jimmy do their shopping, running across Beverly to Farmer's Market and the old Pan Pacific Theater ruins, and the convenience of living within a 5 mile radius of clubs like the Starwood, Club Lingerie, the Whisky and the Florentine Gardens. What I don't miss are the bottle fights over parking spaces, something that never happened in Wilmington. Musically, growing up in Wilmas in the sixties and seventies was a far different experience than it is now. For one thing, music on the radio was much more varied than today. You'd get some Stax soul, followed by the Rolling Stones or the Yardbirds, followed by Thee Midniters, followed by Sir Douglas Quintet, followed by Motown, followed by Creedence, followed by the Beatles, all on the same station. You'd hear some rancheras, nortenos, ballads and Mexican rock coming from the radio next door, the house behind us would be playing country and western, and the passing lowriders would be playing what would now be considered slow jams (not to mention my mom playing her records of Italian music and Nat King Cole, and my dad's danzon, Louis Armstrong and Perez Prado records). There weren't too many oldies stations, because the oldies weren't old yet, they were just part of the mix. There always seemed to be a band or two on every block in the neighborhood ("Thee Men of Nite" comes into mind), and weekly "Battle of the Bands" at the Teen Post or the Longshoremen's Hall were commonplace. There were even sharp-dressed Chicano mods around Wilmas, known as "Strickleys". There was only one T.V. station in Spanish, Channel 34, that would have a variety show on in the afternoon. There would usually be some cool Mexican rock bands on, like Los Rocking Devils or Los Ovnis, doing Beatles, Kinks or Sam the Sham covers in their own style (you haven't lived until you've heard "Well Respected Man" in Spanish). Can't forget the music shows on the American stations, like Boss City, Lloyd Thaxton, or Happening '68, and later, the Real Don Steele Show and Kirshner's Rock Concert. That's how Lina and I got our music education-can't deny the experience. (She gets the credit for getting me into punk as well, but that's another story for another time.) Enough of the past, time to fast forward. Been married 27 years, have one son who's pushing 20 and is quite musically inclined. Household pets include a Papillon mix named Warhol and 4 cats (who get along with the various transient oppossums and raccoons that wander into the yard). As a postscript, after almost 30 years I'm back to bass-ics.